Hirdey Ram
Courses
The Hanuman Natak: An Introduction to Sikh Court Literature
This introductory course invites learners to encounter the Hanuman Natak — a Braj Bhasha dramatic poem composed by Hirdey Ram Bhalla in the early seventeenth century — as one of the earliest surviving literary works connected to the Sikh tradition's courtly milieu. Students will learn who Hirdey Ram was, what kind of text the Hanuman Natak is, how it draws on the Ramayana's Hanuman cycle while infusing bhakti devotion, and why it occupies a distinct and important place in the literary history of the Guru period. No prior knowledge of classical Indian literature is assumed.
Reading the Hanuman Natak: Hirdey Ram Bhalla and the World of Braj Court Poetry
This course studies the Hanuman Natak, a Braj-language poetic work attributed to Hirdey Ram Bhalla, and treats it as a piece of classical literature rather than scripture. We learn who Hirdey Ram was as a court-connected poet in the literary world around the time of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, what kind of text the…
Hanuman Natak: Braj Bhasha, Devotion, and Theological Themes
This advanced course subjects the Hanuman Natak to sustained scholarly analysis across three interconnected domains: its Braj Bhasha language and literary craft, its devotional (bhakti) architecture and poetic theology, and the theological themes it shares with and distinguishes from Gurbani and the wider Sikh tradition. Students engage with the poem as a serious literary artifact, examine its metrical and rhetorical structures, interrogate its theological claims and their limits, and situate it within comparative bhakti scholarship. The course assumes familiarity with the introductory Hanuman Natak courses.
